First Dates

My daughter went on her first date on Saturday - on her return we asked if she had a good time - ok was the reply - did he walk you home - he asked but I can do that myself - not sure she's got the hang of this yet. Got me thinking about disastrous dates of which I've had a few !!

Back in my yoof when I was still living at home, I was on a tight curfew and had to be home by 10... extremely embarrassing for a 17year old... but hey-ho under their roof, their rules... Anyhoo this bloke came up to me at a Soul night...started chatting to me, offered to buy me a drink etc and after only about 10mins I had to say, sorry I've gotta go home now... he thought I was joking until I stood up and put my coat on. He was there again the following week and I had to explain that I wasn't being rude but I really had had to go home.

When I was 19 I went out for a drink with a bloke in his 20s. On the way home, we were travelling at about 50MPH along a 60MPH limit A road when someone reversed at speed on to the road out of a pub car park straight in front of us. My date swerved to avoid the car but had to swerve back in as there was also a car in the other lane coming towards us. We ended up upside down half in the front room of a house as we crashed through the patio doors.

I momentarily thought I was dead as I was a bit disorientated, everything was upside down and it was deathly quiet, but after what seemed an eternity, someone pulled me out of the car.

When the Police arrived they were mainly concerned with breathalysing my date as he was very disorientated but it turned out he had concussion which wasn't diagnosed until the next day. The pub landlord said a person had rushed in just as they were closing looking for somewhere to stay and smelling strongly of alcohol. I wonder if that man knew if we survived the crash he caused or not. I still have the scar on my leg.

Me too on the stupid curfew. One of my first dates was to the cinema, we had to leave just after the film started to get me in by whatever ludicrous time I had to be home. The beautiful relationship didn't last......

The thing that strikes me is how much more honest this generation can be with their parents than we could. When I was 17 and doing my A levels, the curfew time got more sensible, the places I was allowed to go didn't. One of my low points was getting the train back from town after going to a disco (that dates me.....) at Manchester Poly. Mother thought I was at the church youth club in the village, which was all fine and dandy until one of her colleagues got on the same train, leaving me to have a less than comfy journey hiding on the floor between the seats.

My first-ever date was with a girl I'd fancied for ages. I was 15. I asked her to the local leisure centre, to the swimming pool. When I was getting changed I lost the cord in my trunks and spent about half an hour trying to thread the damn thing back through. By the time I got to the pool they were already calling us out (we had the colour wristband scheme back then) and she was anyway being chatted up by the lifeguard. After our (or her) swim we met up in the cafe and she asked for a hot chocolate. As I got to the table with it, I tripped over and sent the whole lot splashing all over her and the table.

I didn't get the second date.

Just as well, because although she was gorgeous back then I saw her on a recent visit to my home town and she looked very blowsy.

not so much a first date but a missed opportunity for a testosterone charged 18 year old....

a bunch of us went to the Gower for a weekend of sun, sand, surf, booze and if sex came along, all the better. well we got friendly with a bunch of young ladies in the local hostelry and all decided on a midnight dip after a goodly few shandies.

there was I having a marvellous time with this young lady and her lovely pair of funbags - oh yes, they were lovely as I still recall them many many years on - and thinking "you're in here mate" so we headed back to the tents. the guy I was sharing a tent with was already inside enjoying himself with another young lady and rather than go find somewhere else, we both just sat down and carried on drinking with other mates and nothing else developed and we parted ways later.

a missed opportunity for me - and maybe for her. dog I still regret missing out on that one as it should have been fun! hey ho

I ruined a first date for my 13 year old elder sister. She'd fancied this bloke for ages and was completely over-joyed when he invited her to the local pub disco. She made me swear not to tell our parents and in return, she lent me her favourite t-shirt.

So, anyway that night I had an accident and ended up in A&E. Dad was worried that my sister would come home from her 'evening with her mates' and find the house empty and broken glass everywhere. He forced me to tell him where she was. He went off to get my Mum from work and the Police were dispatched to get my 13 year old sister out of the pub. Pub disco was closed down after that, which made my sister very unpopular with her peers.

Any of my dating disasters pale into insignificance compared with some of these!

As for the curfew, I lived with my dad from the age of 16 and he always gave me complete freedom - he trusted me not to do anything too irresponsible, and he was right. As a result I never had any desire to rebel. It all depends on the individual of course - some kids will abuse the freedom they're given, others will rebel against restriction. I can't imagine it's an easy decision to make as a parent.

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